One of the questions I am sometimes asked by clients is whether to purchase a water bottle or water bowl for their bunny.

For hygiene reasons, my personal preference is a water bottle. I find it is easier to keep the cage clean - you do not have to worry about water spilling or rabbit hair or litter flying into your rabbit's water bowl. Another reason I like using the water bottle is that it gives rabbits more space in their cage. Water bowls usually need to be placed in corners or wedged between food bowls and litter pans so they do not topple over. Also, I do not know about your rabbit, but every once in a while Chestnut would decide that he does not like where things are normally placed in his cage and would "redecorate" his home (including his water bowl!). This would create a huge mess!

When Chestnut was young, we started him out with a water bowl because he was so tiny. Later we moved to a water bowl attached to the side of his cage as he grew and was able to reach. We eventually moved to a water bottle, which he has been using ever since.

If you are in the process of training your rabbit to use a water bottle (i.e. transitioning from a water bowl), I would recommend starting by showing your bunny how the water bottle works. Hang the bottle in its cage and press the tip of the water bottle to show him or her that water comes out. There is usually a ball at the bottle tip that makes noise when you press it. The sound might be interesting to your bunny and pique its curiosity. Do this until your rabbit goes up to the water bottle and tries it out for him or herself. Keep the water bowl in your rabbits' cage but after some time slowly start to take it out of its cage so that it is forced to use its water bottle. Be really careful with this process and only start to remove the water bowl if your rabbit shows interest in the water bottle. Some rabbits are just water bowl users while some can be trained to use water bottles.

Even with Chestnut trained to use a water bottle, I still place a water bowl outside his cage when he comes out to play. Chestnut is not a big water drinker in general, and doing this is just another added measure of safety for me to ensure he is getting enough water. I also try to change the water in his water bottle every few days to ensure it does not get stale. If your rabbit does not drink a lot of water like mine, make sure to give it lots of vegetables. One trick to help your pet drink more water is to wash the vegetables and not fully pat them dry so that there is still some water on the leaves.

In terms of cost, water bowls are cheaper than water bottles. A small dish would suffice which could be purchased anywhere, like at the dollar store. Water bottles for rabbits from a pet store cost much more depending on the size of the bottle and whether it is glass or plastic. If you are using a water bowl, I would recommend checking it often for flying debris and changing the water accordingly. If you have the space, I find that placing it in the opposite corner of the litter pan also helps. Chestnut likes to leap out of his litter pan and when he does, his litter comes flying out all over his cage. Having a water bowl as far away from the litter pan would help reduce the amount of litter flying in the bowl.